A Deadly Illness or a Pregnacy?
by Sara K M
Summary: When Snow becomes pregnant with Emma, Charming is confused, believing her symptoms indicate a serious illness.


A DEATHLY ILLNESS OR A PREGNACY?

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Once Upon a Time**_**.**

**I know some of you were hoping to see another chapter of "Thicker than Water Part II" today. Sorry to say the chapter isn't ready yet. I hope to have it ready for next Sunday. (In some ways, that will be better, as there will be no new episode that weekend to look forward to.)**

**In the meantime, here's a one – shot I wrote for you guys to enjoy.**

David noticed that Snow seemed tired for the last week or so. She yawned periodically during the day, which was unusual for someone who normally had so much energy. She often fell asleep as soon as she climbed into their bed. He asked Snow if she was ill. "You don't have as much energy as you used to, Snow," he told her as she yawned for the second time that day, while they looked over new trade agreements with neighboring kingdoms. "Are you sure you're not sick? Maybe you should go lie down. I'll finish this up myself, and then I'll bring you a cup of tea."

Snow shook head, chuckling. "Of course I'm not sick, Charming. I feel fine. I've just forgotten how tiresome this can be, going over all these agreements."

David nodded. It was true; this work got pretty boring. But still, she seemed tired _all the time_ these days, not when they were looking at trade agreements. "Yeah, but you're yawning at other times, too. Last night I caught you yawning while we were finishing dinner! You're lucky Doc hasn't caught you yet, or you'd be in even bigger trouble. And let's not go into how fast you go to sleep at night. There isn't even any time for us to do…fun stuff," he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm worried about you, Snow," he told her softly.

But Snow just shook her head again. "I _promise you_, I'm not sick." She leaned over and caressed his arm with her hand. "It's just…ruling a kingdom is more stressful than I thought it would be and I guess I'm having trouble adjusting. I'll be okay soon."

David sighed and nodded. "I guess that makes sense. It _is _pretty stressful, I admit. At least I'm here to help you." He took comfort in the fact that Snow wasn't ruling the kingdom by herself, considering the fact that she seemed to find it harder than she thought it would be.

Snow gave David her special smile, the one that was only for him. "That's the only way I know I can do this. Because you're here with me, helping every step of the way."

David shook his head. "I'm glad to help Snow, but don't underestimate what you can do by yourself. Look at how you brought your friends together when you were trying to rescue me from George."

Snow shrugged. "I don't like to think about that time. I came to close to losing you."

David caressed her cheek with his hand. "You'll never lose me. I'll always find you remember?"

"Yeah."

"Let's finish up a few more of these reports and then we'll do something out of the castle. How's that? Maybe we could go riding." If Snow's problem was that her new responsibilities were stressful, then she could use some time away from them, right?

Snow brightened. "That's a great idea, Charming."

OOOOOOOOOO

An hour later, they had riding gear on and their horses were all saddled up. "All ready?" David asked, climbing onto his horse.

"Definitely," Snow replied excitedly, climbing onto her horse as well.

David grinned as he watched his wife ride through the forest, without a care in the world. Snow been right; the stress from ruling had been getting to her. Now that she was riding out in the forest again, she looked happier than he'd seen her in a long time. He was _so happy_ to have thought of this outing. "So where do you want to ride to?" he asked her as their horses trotted, side – by – side.

"Troll bridge," she replied, grinning at him.

"Sounds great," he agreed, urging his horse to go in the correct direction. He could have sworn he saw Snow yawn again, but maybe he was just imagining things. It was obvious she was happier out here, so it was probably the stress that had been a problem before. He had nothing to worry about. Really.

They rode in companionable silence for about ten minutes, when David noticed some berries growing nearby. "Are you hungry?" he asked her pointing to the berries.

Snow didn't answer.

"Snow?" David asked again, turning in her direction. She had fallen asleep! How was it possible to fall asleep on a _horse_? Horrified, he tapped her shoulder, hard. "Snow!" he said again. "What's _wrong_?"

Snow opened her eyes and looked at him. "Huh? Oh, nothing's wrong, Charming. We're riding to the troll bridge, remember?" She yawned again.

David shook his head, becoming more alarmed by the minute. "Snow, you _fell asleep on the horse!_ You're sick. We have to get you back to Doc. _Now_!"

Snow shook her head. "No, I feel fine. Don't worry about me, Charming."

David pulled Snow off her horse, much to her protest. "Snow, there is something really wrong with you if you are falling asleep right now. Now I'm taking you home to see Doc, and I don't want you to exert yourself more than you have to, so you're going to ride with me. Your horse can follow behind. You can follow, can't you," he asked the horse as he petted her.

The horse whinnied.

Then David put Snow on his horse, behind him. "I'm sorry you can't lie down yet, but you can lean against me, at least."

Snow sighed. "Well, at least they're some benefits to your over protectiveness," she commented as she snuggled against his back. "Seriously, I feel _fine_."

"And I'm going to make sure you stay that way," he replied, his voice showing uncharacteristic panic. Snow had to be okay. She just _had to be._ There was no way that he'd done everything for he and Snow to be together (including _two_ True Love's Kisses), only for her to be stolen from him from an illness.

He and Snow and the horses as well, arrived back at the palace as quickly as possible. "What's ya doing back this early?" Grumpy barked when they came in. "I thought you guys were going out for an afternoon ride."

"We were, Grumpy," David sighed. "But we _had_ to come back. She needs to see Doc. Right away," he told the dwarf firmly.

Grumpy nodded immediately. "You put her in your bedroom. I'll get him right away," he promised.

David smiled dispute himself. Grumpy wasn't always an easy person to deal with, because he was so cynical, which clashed with David's optimism. But David could always depend on Grumpy when it came to protecting and taking care of Snow. He'd be able to get Doc to help her right away.

David picked her up and began carrying her to their room so she could lie down.

They passed Granny on the way there. "What seems to be the problem?" she asked.

"_ Nothing!" Snow insisted.

"_ She just seems tired all the time these days," David replied nervously. "We thought it was just stress from getting used to ruling a kingdom, but then she fell asleep on the horse! What if…" he couldn't even finish that sentence, not wanting to voice his biggest fear.

Granny smiled after a minute. "I think I know what it might be, and believe me it's nothing to worry about."

"Seriously, Charming, I think you're worried for nothing," she protested. "I may be _a little _tired, but other than that, I feel fine!" she told him as they entered their bedroom.

"I hope you're right Snow," he told her. "I _really_ hope you're right. Because I can't lose you again. Especially not to an illness." He shook his head as he set her on the bed. "Doc will be in soon, to check on you."

"Granny says it's nothing to worry about," she reminded him. "I think she's been around long enough to know."

David sighed. Snow had a point, but…he just couldn't think of a reason for a woman to fall asleep on a horse unless they were _extremely_ ill. He was so worried about Snow, he couldn't spend a second away from her.

Soon Doc arrived. "So, I hear you've been feeling ill, Snow?" he asked her. "Why didn't you come to see me sooner?" he asked sternly.

Snow sighed from her position on the bed. "Because I _haven't _been feeling ill. My husband," she shot David a Look, "is jumping to conclusion that I must be ill because I've been feeling tired lately."

Doc nodded, appearing to be thinking for a couple of minutes. "Can I take a look at your stomach?"

Snow shrugged and nodded. Doc felt around it for several minutes then asked her to lift up her dress so he could see it closer. David was glad that the dwarf was their doctor and not anyone else. After all, the dwarves didn't have sexual urges and considered themselves Snow's brothers, anyway. Doc was only concerned about Snow's well – being, thank goodness.

The dwarf also examined her breasts for a second, before he replaced her clothes and nodded. "You're right, Snow," he said with a big smile on his face. "You're fine."

David exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding. Snow was fine! "But…why was she so tired?"

Doc smiled at them both. "It's pretty common for women in her condition. The little one takes so much of her body's energy, she doesn't have so much for herself."

David and Snow processed that comment for a few moments, trying to figure out what the dwarf meant. Her condition? Little one?

"So…does this mean…I'm…"Snow couldn't even seem to form the words.

"You're pregnant, Snow. Congratulations." He grinned from ear to ear at both of them.

**The most widely – known symptom of pregnancy is morning sickness, but a lot of women don't experience that until they are two or even three months pregnant. Tiredness, on the other hand, can come very early. So decided to focus on that instead of morning sickness, for something a little different.**

**This story is canon with everything that happened between Snowing in the Enchanted Forest. It can be seen as prequel to "Thicker than Water Part II" (particularly considering it's a scene that I've mentioned in passing in that story). **

**If you haven't read "Thicker than Water Part II", though, it can also be seen as canon to the show's current season 4. Or even as a no - Curse AU, where the Charmings stay in the Enchanted Forest permanently.**


End file.
